1 00:00:00,85 --> 00:00:07,41 The second paragraph of the declaration is one of the most amazing. Set of phrases 2 00:00:07,61 --> 00:00:13,29 ever written it is the creed of what makes America and now what makes the 3 00:00:13,30 --> 00:00:17,39 aspirations of many people around the world let's just read that first sentence 4 00:00:17,40 --> 00:00:22,59 which of the second paragraph which is just. Awesome it we hold these truths to be 5 00:00:22,60 --> 00:00:27,83 self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator 6 00:00:28,05 --> 00:00:34,95 with certain inalienable rights and among these are Life Liberty and the pursuit of 7 00:00:34,96 --> 00:00:41,10 happiness men are created equal that they are now by their Creator with certain 8 00:00:41,25 --> 00:00:46,61 unalienable Rights that among these are Life Liberty and the pursuit of happiness 9 00:00:46,72 --> 00:00:53,20 let's start even with the word WE who's We weird says is the. The American 10 00:00:53,46 --> 00:01:00,14 colonies now gathering as the United States of America but they're basically white 11 00:01:00,18 --> 00:01:03,08 males everybody at that convention is 12 00:01:03,09 --> 00:01:09,52 a white male Most of them land old Mares So what the arc of American history shows 13 00:01:09,72 --> 00:01:16,58 is that word we began over the course of decades and then centuries to include 14 00:01:16,64 --> 00:01:21,90 more and more people eventually it includes freed slaves eventual it includes women 15 00:01:22,11 --> 00:01:22,85 but that's 16 00:01:22,86 --> 00:01:28,86 a narrative of American history is Who are we that have these truths is self-evident 17 00:01:28,87 --> 00:01:35,08 that we're all equal now it's also interesting the phrase self-evident you know 18 00:01:35,09 --> 00:01:41,80 this is something that comes from the. Rationality of the 19 00:01:41,81 --> 00:01:47,42 scientific era we were and this is an age right after Isaac Newton has made 20 00:01:47,46 --> 00:01:52,84 everything in the universe rational through scientific laws and it also comes from 21 00:01:52,85 --> 00:01:56,96 some of the philosophers especially David Hume that there are just certain things 22 00:01:56,97 --> 00:02:01,83 that are self-evident so that's an important concept that they're not appealing to 23 00:02:01,84 --> 00:02:06,82 anybody else to say you know what are these truths they're saying this is just our 24 00:02:06,83 --> 00:02:13,70 rationality tells us this is true but then they say all men are created equal. 25 00:02:14,71 --> 00:02:19,18 Now they say men back then men was supposed to be 26 00:02:19,19 --> 00:02:21,94 a phrase that was more inclusive than just Mayo or 27 00:02:21,95 --> 00:02:28,84 a man on the right is like mankind to some extent but then again you know at least 28 00:02:28,85 --> 00:02:35,58 Jefferson he owned slaves and women they won't necessarily given the right to vote 29 00:02:35,92 --> 00:02:42,38 so even though they mean man sort of like mankind they also really generally mean 30 00:02:42,39 --> 00:02:47,76 man at this point and once again this is where the American Now is it starts and 31 00:02:47,77 --> 00:02:53,01 fortunately that phrase gets expanded over time as to what they mean right right 32 00:02:53,88 --> 00:02:58,60 look at the phrase created equal what does that really mean well first No it 33 00:02:58,61 --> 00:03:00,95 doesn't mean that people are always equal at 34 00:03:00,96 --> 00:03:03,42 a certain point in life Jefferson learns 35 00:03:03,43 --> 00:03:06,33 a whole lot of property and Franklin is quite rich as 36 00:03:06,34 --> 00:03:12,26 a printer and different people have different statuses in life but they're saying 37 00:03:12,27 --> 00:03:13,04 that in 38 00:03:13,05 --> 00:03:19,73 a fundamental political way. We all start off we're created equal 39 00:03:19,80 --> 00:03:23,27 we have certain rights that you just can't take away from us whether we're rich or 40 00:03:23,28 --> 00:03:27,47 poor whatever those unalienable rights are life liberty and the pursuit of 41 00:03:27,48 --> 00:03:34,32 happiness but I'm guessing it's also doing it the king because royalty kind of the 42 00:03:34,62 --> 00:03:39,62 one underlying assumption is that it's inherited and that you were created better 43 00:03:39,63 --> 00:03:43,12 off right and Thomas Payne who is 44 00:03:43,13 --> 00:03:49,97 a pamphleteer has just written. Just written this document common sense and that's 45 00:03:49,98 --> 00:03:55,47 helped inspire everybody and at the heart of the document common sense is that 46 00:03:55,48 --> 00:03:58,87 there is no divine right of kings Divine Right of Kings was 47 00:03:58,88 --> 00:04:03,80 a British concept which went God made certain people more equal or better than 48 00:04:03,81 --> 00:04:10,58 others and the king was you know by divine right had these powers and were 49 00:04:10,59 --> 00:04:15,59 saying no the Kings don't have any more powers Ben Franklin was very much of that 50 00:04:15,60 --> 00:04:20,37 way which is he hated the notion of aristocracy that some people were born noble 51 00:04:20,38 --> 00:04:24,08 and some people were born heiress to Craddock and some people were born royal and 52 00:04:24,09 --> 00:04:26,35 whatever but think about it for 53 00:04:26,36 --> 00:04:30,22 a moment what was Thomas Jefferson thinking Guyland 54 00:04:30,23 --> 00:04:34,62 a lot of slaves what was he thinking when he writes is amazing for 55 00:04:34,63 --> 00:04:40,31 a all men are created equal. You know I think he was very conflicted I mean here's 56 00:04:40,32 --> 00:04:46,24 a guy who did not end up even freeing most of his slaves you know in his lifetime 57 00:04:47,03 --> 00:04:52,39 and yet he could write these inspiring words and if you read about Jefferson you 58 00:04:52,40 --> 00:04:57,42 know that was the fundamental conflict and it's a conflict that we as 59 00:04:57,43 --> 00:05:00,49 a nation have been wrestling with and as 60 00:05:00,50 --> 00:05:04,93 a slave owner he but he also knew them very well he knew them as as human beings 61 00:05:04,94 --> 00:05:10,32 perhaps he had fathered children as one of the slaves Ben Franklin is interesting 62 00:05:10,33 --> 00:05:14,65 because early on in life he had two households slaves who he didn't really trade 63 00:05:14,66 --> 00:05:19,47 a slaves with they were his household servants and he allowed the advertising of 64 00:05:19,48 --> 00:05:25,73 slavery in the Pennsylvania is that the newspaper that he published but he will 65 00:05:25,74 --> 00:05:30,91 realize after he writes these words are created equal he realizes how about horror 66 00:05:30,92 --> 00:05:35,49 and that he has to his own notion that people are created equal and of course he 67 00:05:35,50 --> 00:05:38,45 died by then freed as slaves but he becomes 68 00:05:38,46 --> 00:05:43,26 a president of the Society for the abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania as 69 00:05:43,27 --> 00:05:49,67 a way of trying to make up for the fact that he had erred he had he had been wrong 70 00:05:50,00 --> 00:05:55,64 when he was young to tolerate the institution of slavery and he becomes an 71 00:05:55,65 --> 00:06:00,44 abolitionist of course John Adams from the very beginning was an abolitionist and 72 00:06:00,45 --> 00:06:02,50 this is important for people to realize you know you take 73 00:06:02,51 --> 00:06:06,08 a kind of American History class it seems like obviously everything comes to 74 00:06:06,09 --> 00:06:10,87 a head right leading up to the Civil War But this was already starting to become an 75 00:06:10,88 --> 00:06:12,02 issue a moral issue 76 00:06:12,03 --> 00:06:14,96 a philosophical issue even at the at the founding of the country and 77 00:06:14,97 --> 00:06:18,71 a political issue as well because if you want Jefferson and you want for genuine 78 00:06:18,72 --> 00:06:21,47 end you know the reason John Adams he was 79 00:06:21,48 --> 00:06:24,97 a great abolitionist but there were no plantations there was no cotton when Granny 80 00:06:24,98 --> 00:06:29,99 matter to sort but if you were a cotton farmer or you know 81 00:06:29,100 --> 00:06:35,19 a plantation owner in Virginia you tended to own slaves and it becomes 82 00:06:35,20 --> 00:06:40,53 a great political issue with the. Slaveholding States have to be brought into this 83 00:06:40,54 --> 00:06:45,93 Union we see that conflict at the concert when the constitution is written you know 84 00:06:45,93 --> 00:06:52,33 . Eleven years later. They're still having this conflict on what do we do about 85 00:06:52,34 --> 00:06:57,81 slavery it will continue for another seventy something years yeah if you want to 86 00:06:57,82 --> 00:07:01,44 say that it was totally resolved by the Civil War and there will be some who will 87 00:07:01,45 --> 00:07:07,95 say that that was the original stain on this unbelievably beautiful phrase which is 88 00:07:07,96 --> 00:07:11,68 that all men are created equal Yeah very cool.